Building a new India requires getting rid of the old exploitative system and the oppressive State!

Statement of the Central Committee of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, 23 August, 2017

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of India’s independence from colonial rule, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on the people to support him in building a “New India” over the next five years, an India without poverty, corruption, communalism or caste discrimination.

Statement of the Central Committee of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, 23 August, 2017

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of India’s independence from colonial rule, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on the people to support him in building a “New India” over the next five years, an India without poverty, corruption, communalism or caste discrimination.

The people of our country are indeed longing for such a new India where prosperity and protection are guaranteed for all. The question is: can such a new society be built without getting rid of the old system and State?

Shaheed Bhagat Singh and other revolutionaries pointed out with great foresight that “India’s struggle shall continue as long as a handful of men in power continue to exploit the labour of the common people for their own ends. Whether the exploiters are Indian, or British, or both in alliance, nothing shall halt the struggle.”

What happened 70 years ago was the replacement of one set of exploiters by another at the helm. The rule of the British capitalist class was replaced by the rule of Indian capitalists and landlords, headed by the Tatas, Birlas and other monopoly houses. The system of ruthless capitalist exploitation and imperialist plunder, alongside feudal and caste oppression, has remained intact. The same state machinery, designed to divide and rule over the toiling majority of people, has been preserved and further perfected.

How can we build a new India, Mr. Prime Minister, without getting rid of the old system and State which block the way?

Can you deny that a tiny minority of men continue to exploit the labour of the common people for their own ends? Consider the banking crisis, for instance. Less than a hundred capitalist corporations account for lakhs of crores of rupees of bad loans.

What action have you taken against the capitalist loan defaulters, Mr. Prime Minister? You claim to be committed to the interests of the poor. You claim to be leading a crusade against the rich corrupt elements. Why then is your government not seizing the assets of capitalist loan defaulters and throwing them into jail? Why are thousands of crores of public money being spent to make up for the losses suffered by the banks? Why are the entire people of India being made to pay for the crimes of a few big capitalists? How can the people believe your promises, when you are not even willing to reveal the names of the capitalist loan defaulters?

You claim that inviting foreign companies to invest in every possible sector will help to create jobs for our youth. In the name of encouraging foreign capital to make in India, these capitalists are allowed to violate all labour laws and workers are being forced to work in most exploitative conditions. Furthermore, every new investment by a giant capitalist corporation drives several smaller operators out of business. More jobs are getting destroyed than the number of new jobs being created.

Lakhs of workers in export oriented sectors lost their jobs as a result of the global capitalist crisis. The Note Ban led to the closure of many small-scale enterprises, resulting in further destruction of jobs. The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax is adding to the problem.

You claim that if unemployed youth set up new companies, called Start Ups, they will address the problem of unemployment. You are saying, instead of seeking jobs, youth will create new jobs. This is a monstrous fraud on our youth. You are covering up the fact that a majority of such start-ups have already failed. In this system where monopoly capitalism dominates, very few small-scale enterprises can survive. Moreover, all the measures your government is taking, be it the Note Ban or the GST, are leading to further concentration of capital and further domination of the monopolies.

If you are serious about creating jobs for all, Mr. Prime Minister, then you will have to change the relations of production. The principal means of production of goods and services cannot be left in the hands of the capitalist monopoly houses. The entire process of production and trade must not remain oriented to fulfil monopoly capitalist greed. It must be reoriented to fulfil human needs. Then there will be so much more to produce, in order to provide each and every Indian with dignified human conditions of life. There will be so much additional work that every able bodied man and woman can be productively employed.

You claim that your government will double farmers’ incomes in five years. Crores of farmers all over the country are protesting against the drastic fall in crop prices, coming on top of the devastating effects of the Note Ban. Their incomes have fallen to such a low level that to talk of “doubling” their incomes is a cruel joke.

Farmers are demanding guaranteed procurement of their crops at stable and remunerative prices. That is indeed an essential condition for preventing further ruination and farmer suicides. To fulfil this essential condition, you need to end the role of private profit maximising companies in the supply of farm inputs and in crop procurement. However, your government is acting in the exact opposite direction, to open up agricultural trade even more widely to the private profiteers and speculators.

The government you head is continuing and further escalating the program of privatization and liberalization. This is not a program that will get rid of poverty. Experience of the past 25 years shows that this program leads to more rapid widening of the gap between the rich and the poor.

You dismiss the death of over 70 children in a government hospital in Gorakhpur as a “natural calamity”. You claim that the widespread death and displacement caused by floods is an “act of God”. You are refusing to accept responsibility for failing to protect the lives of our people. This is not new, Mr. Prime Minister! It is reminiscent of the old colonial State, responsible only to an exploiting minority and not to all members of society.

Our country has enough skilled doctors and nurses to set up a universal public health care system. There is also no shortage of engineers, scientists and the technical knowhow to prevent the devastation caused by recurring floods. The problem is that successive governments, including yours, are neglecting and wrecking public systems to suit the interests of private profiteers.

You are promising to wipe out communalism and caste discrimination. However, actions speak louder than words. All over the country, divisions on the basis of religion and caste are being systematically exacerbated. People are being targeted and murdered on the basis of their religious or caste identity.

The British colonialists established and consolidated their rule by building a State on communal foundations. You are defending that same old State, Mr. Prime Minister! While claiming to represent something new, you are relying on the same old communal strategy of divide and rule.

Nearly 50 years ago, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi advanced the slogan of “garibi hatao!” The result of her government’s policies, however, was “amiri badao!” The wealth of the monopoly capitalists increased enormously. The gap between the rich and the poor widened.

Today, the capitalist monopoly houses are aggressively pursuing imperialist ambitions. They want to rapidly increase their wealth and enhance their global position. They want to sit on the high table with the leading imperialist powers of the world. They plan to do so by intensifying the exploitation of workers, robbery of peasants, and the plunder of our natural resources, in collaboration with foreign capitalist monopolies. In order to impose this anti popular agenda on the workers, peasants, women and youth of our country, they want communal passions to be whipped up as also war hysteria against our neighbours. They want all those who oppose their agenda to be branded as “anti national”.

It is the imperialist agenda of the capitalist monopoly houses that you are marketing as “New India”, Mr. Prime Minister. You want the workers and peasants to give up their struggles and believe that your government will fulfill their needs.

Be warned, Mr. Prime Minister! The workers and peasants of our country do not believe in your false promises and will not give up their struggles. They have not forgotten the words of Shaheed Bhagat Singh:

India’s struggle shall continue as long as a handful of men in power continue to exploit the labour of the common people for their own ends!

The Communist Ghadar Party of India is confident that the day is not far when the rule of the exploiting minority, headed by the Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis and Adanis will be overthrown. Workers and peasants will organise to take political power in their hands and build a new India – a new system and State that would guarantee prosperity and protection for all.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *